University of St. Francis (III.)

CHICAGO --- A challenge play resulting in the final of ten combined turnovers on the day added yet another interesting chapter to the University of St. Francis-Saint Xavier University football story, but with the same ending as the Cougars held on again for a 27-24 Mid-States Football Association Midwest League victory on Saturday afternoon.

SXU (4-4, 2-0 MSFA) has now won 27 of the 29 all-time matchups, including seven of the last eight meetings decided by seven points or less.  A total of 11 of the last 14 games in the series have also been decided by that margin.

An ill-advised run play in the closing 90 seconds by Saint Xavier gave the Fighting Saints (2-6, 1-1) new life when Wynton White recovered a fumble caused by Sabion Wilder near the USF goal line and turned it into a 44-yard return.  That put the Saints near midfield with 78 seconds remaining.

A pair of pass completions gave St. Francis a new set of downs at the Saint Xavier 41-yard line with 69 seconds still on the clock.  An incomplete pass followed before a controversial second incompletion was overturned to a catch and fumble after Saint Xavier challenged the initial call.

The reversed call denied St. Francis yet another opportunity to turn a Saint Xavier miscue into points.  The Saints did so on three of their first four chances, cashing an interception and two fumbles in for 17 points. 

The first of three fumbles in the second half by Saint Xavier resulted in a seven-yard touchdown pass to Larry Stringham to give the Saints their second lead of the day at 21-20.  One offensive play after that, SXU fumbled again to set up Alan Avalos' 40-yard field goal and put the Saints up 24-20 with 4:48 remaining in the third quarter.

Saint Xavier looked to pull away early by scoring the first ten points of the game before the Saints got back into the contest with a 54-yard halfback pass from Aaron Larkins to David Maddox.  One series later, USF had the lead at 14-10 on a Michael Fritz five-yard catch following the second interception of the first half by SXU.

Saint Xavier, which was only 4-of-7 inside the red zone, had three golden opportunities to put some distance between itself and the Saints, but came away with just seven points to go into the break leading 17-14.  That came on a 43-yard scoring strike from Blainey Dowling to Jayden Armstrong (8 catches, 146 yards) in the closing minute.  It was the only time in five chances that the Cougars turned a USF turnover into points coming after an interception. 

Two other times in the closing five minutes of the first half, Saint Xavier failed to convert on a muffed punt return by the Saints and a fumble at the St. Francis 16-yard line right after the touchdown to put the Cougars up 17-14.

SXU extended the lead to 20-14 with a 26-yard field goal on its first possession of the second half, but lost that lead just a little over two minutes later on Stringham's catch.

After being denied once inside the red zone late in the third quarter, the Cougars converted the second time in the fourth quarter after USF failed to get any points after driving to the SXU 25-yard line.  It was one of three times on the day that the Saints got as close as the Saint Xavier 34-yard line, but came up empty.

The fourth and final lead change came on a fourth-and-six play when Dowling connected with Coen Demack on a nine-yard pass play with 7:23 remaining in the game.  Demack, the nation's leader in receptions (62) and catches per game (8.9) coming into the contest, finished with 14 grabs for 109 yards.

Dowling had his second-best day as a Cougar throwing for 403 yards on 31-of-50 passing with two touchdowns and two interceptions.  Jaylen Webb-Starkey, his counterpart, also had two touchdowns and two picks, while throwing for 166 yards on 22-of-41 accuracy.  Webb-Starkey also ran for 43 yards on 15 carries.

Like Demack and Armstrong, Connor Engstrom had a big day for the Saints, catching a career-high ten passes for 85 yards.

SXU finished with 442 yards to USF's 298 despite running just eight more plays.  Neither team could get its ground game going with St. Francis finishing with 78 yards and Saint Xavier 39.

Agsan Branch went head-to-head with Demack most of the day and finished with a team-high 11 tackles, three pass breakups and one interception.  Matthew Perry provided another six tackles, including his first two sacks of the season.

Other Notes: Besides causing the late fumble, Wilder also produced the Saints' first interception.  It was his second of the season … The two teams had matching turnovers: two interceptions and three fumbles … The Saints lost all three of their fumbles, while Saint Xavier had five … SXU was only 4-of-15 on third down, but 3-of-4 on fourth down, while the Saints were 9-of-17 on third down … Engstrom has caught 32 of his 40 passes over the last four games … USF's defense has seven interceptions in its last three games … Saint Xavier held a nearly five-minute time of possession advantage in the game.

Up Next
The Saints start a two-game homestand against MSFA Midwest League co-leader and NAIA No. 8 Marian University (Ind.) next Saturday starting at 1 pm next Saturday.